Piecing It Together
by ducky76
Summary: “You got a lot more going on in that brainy head a’ yours than you let on. And I realized that I don’t know the half of it.” Sequel to Puzzles.


-1Raphael twirled his sai around in his hand as he leaned back in the chair.

"Raph, for the fiftieth time, could you please put your feet down?" Donatello complained as he swatted his older brother's feet off of his table. "I use these tables for work, you know."

"You ain't using this one right now," Raph said, shrugging, though he did keep he feet on the floor this time. "And just for the record Don, I counted 17."

Don rolled his eyes and turned back to his desk, where he was tinkering with some new toy. He'd tried to explain what it was, but it had gone way over Raph's head. "You don't have to hang around in here if you don't want to."

"Who said I didn't want to be here, huh?" Raph asked as he put the sai back in his belt.

Don gave him an exasperated look. "I know watching me work isn't exactly your idea of a good time, Raph," he said. "You're bored out of your shell."

"Hey, I came here on my own, didn't I?" Raph said, leaning back so that his chair was only on it back two legs. "If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be, alright? You know I don't do anything unless I feel like it."

Don cast him a wary look before resuming his tinkering. He sighed lightly, though Raph couldn't quite place what the sigh was until he saw Don touch his left shoulder gingerly. The arm was still in a sling, it being just five days after their little run-in with the gang.

"Shoulder hurt?" Raph asked worriedly.

"Nah, it's not bad," Don said, though he sounded frustrated. "It's just driving me nuts, not being able to use both hands, though."

"I can help." Raph leaned forward in the seat, ready to stand.

"I'd really rather-"

"Give it a rest," Raph said as he made his way to where Don was. He picked up the device and eyed it with scrutiny. "Walk me through it, tech-geek."

Don tried to snatch back his device. "Really Raph, I appreciate your help, but I can handle it myself."

Raph ignored him, turned so that his shell blocked Don from taking back what was his. He picked up the screwdriver that Don had been using from the table. "You want this thing screwed in right?"

"Yes, but Raph, I'd really rather work on it myself. You don't even understand what it is."

"Sure I do," Raph said, beginning to make use of the tool in his hand. "It's your new toy for making water steam up. Has something to do with pressure, right? Sounds kinda like that thing from the new Batman movie to me."

Don raised an eyebrow. Perhaps it hadn't gone right over his head.

"Besides, all it needs is a few screws tightened. You did all the hard work."

Don sighed in defeat. "Fine."

"Only thing I'm curious about is what we're ever going to need this for," Raph said, turning back towards Don when he realized that the device wouldn't be taken back from him. "Don't get me wrong… I think it's pretty cool… It's just-"

"Fun," Don interrupted. He smiled softly. "No reason really other than that I simply felt like making it."

Raph snorted. "Nerd."

Don's lopsided smile remained on his face as Raph glanced up at him, an almost playful look in his older brother's eyes. He knew that Raph meant 'nerd' in the most affectionate, brotherly way possible. In Raph World, insults were terms of endearment. And the look others might mistake for a sneer was really Raph's attempt at a lighthearted smile.

"You're kind of a freak, ya know that?" Raph said distractedly as he kept his attention on the device.

Don laughed. "We're mutant turtles," he stated. "It doesn't get much freakier than that."

"True," Raph agreed, "but _you _enjoy doing all of this work. It ain't natural, Don." His voice was softer as he said the last sentence, and all sarcasm was gone from his voice. "But I admire the hell outta you for it."

Don watched him in confusion, not quite knowing how to respond to the very serious tone of his brother's voice nor to the surprising compliment. After a minute or two, Raph set down the screwdriver and held out the device to Don. "Meet your standards?" he asked.

Don only looked at it briefly before directing his gaze back to Raphael. "Thanks Raph."

Raph shrugged and jumped up to sit on the table, ignoring the look of irritation Don shot him for doing so. "So it's all finished? When you gonna test it out?"

"Not now," Don said, setting it down on a shelf full of various devices. "It can wait until later." He looked back at Raph curiously. "Now, for the million dollar question… What are you doing here, Raph?"

Raph frowned. "Well, I just helped you with your tech-geek stuff, didn't I?"

Don gave him a skeptical look. "You've been hanging around here the past three days."

Raph looked genuinely upset, but quickly masked it with a look of false annoyance. "Well if it's botherin' you I'll be on my way-"

"No, it's not that," Don said quickly. "I really don't mind it at all. It's cool that you want to hang out and all… I just want to know why. You never really cared to before."

"You took a bullet for me," Raph said as though it were the plainest, most obvious explanation in the world.

"Yea," Don said, "but any of us would've done it for you. And you would for any of us."

"Woulda," Raph said. "But _you did _Donnie."

Don frowned. "So this is about feeling guilty? You feel bad that I got shot? It's really not a big deal, Raph."

"It is too," Raph growled. "It's a big fuckin' deal Donnie!" He let out a breath and looked away nervously. "And, no, this ain't about feeling bad. It's just…"

"Just what?"

Raph kept looking away. "You went ape shit on those guys the other night," he explained. "I just… I never seen you get that pissed off before. I mean, the one guy was dead…" He felt guilty the moment he'd said it. He knew it would probably upset Don to be reminded of having killed someone. Don typically couldn't stand violence like that.

However, when he looked Don in the eye, he was shocked that all he saw there was fire, hot and angry. "I don't regret that even a little bit," the generally peaceful turtle said fiercely. "They had an unfair advantage. They outnumbered you and had guns. I wasn't about to let them take down my brother." He softened his gaze a little bit. "Does it bother you that I did that?"

Raph shook his head. "I just realized that I don't really got you figured out, is all."

Don furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well," Raph started. "You got a lot more going on in that brainy head a' yours than you let on. And I realized that I don't know the half of it."

"So-"

"But I want to, Donnie," Raph said, his eyes bright with moisture and emotion. "It drives me nuts that I don't know my own brother as well as I thought I did. I love ya, Donnie. And you coulda been dead. And then I'd have never figured you out. There's no way I could live with that."

There was moment of silence between the two of them before Don offered him a weak smile. "You know, I could use some help with another device," he said. "I've been working on small tracking devices with cameras. I can walk you through it."

Raph perked up a bit and got off of the table. "Alright. Just don't tell Leo about them, or else he'll be tryin' to use them on _me _when I go on patrol with Casey."

Don laughed at that and went to retrieve the devices and his kit of tools for small devices. He set them down on the table in front of Raph and watched as his older brother began looking at the tiny tracking devices in amazement. "Raph, maybe once my shoulder's healed up… I could go patrolling with you and Casey some time?"

Raph looked up at Don blankly for a moment before his face broke out into a grin, realizing that Don was willing to help him piece together that puzzle he'd been avoiding for years. "Sure thing, Donnie. Let's just avoid the guns this time, huh? It's kinda my turn to take the bullet for you now, and I ain't too keen on getting' shot."

Raph had a crooked grin, and it almost always looked as if he was gritting his teeth when he showed it, but Don found it impossible not to smile back at it. "Deal."


End file.
